“Paige, listen…” she starts.
“No, you listen to me,” says Paige, crouching down to Rachel’s height. “Will is not your responsibility. Ali’s got form—she’s done it before and, no doubt, she’ll do it again—that’s just who she is. What you now need to do is to find out if anything’s going on between her and Jack, because if it is, I swear to God…”
Rachel nods, willing herself to get her act together. To gather the strength and resilience she needs to get through the rest of the day.
“I assume you haven’t said anything to Jack yet?” asks Paige.
“I haven’t had the chance, but I will, tonight or tomorrow, depending on how drunk he’s planning on getting.”
“And have you thought about what you’re going to do if he admits it?”
A lump instantaneously forms in Rachel’s throat. “I need time to think about that,” she says.
“Can you live with a man who’s been unfaithful? Or are you always going to be thinking that, every time he’s late from work, he’s with her?”
“I don’t know,” she cries. “What if he wants to be with her?”
“If he wanted to be with her, and her with him, then she wouldn’t have just married his brother, would she?”
“I just don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Whatever’s going on, it needs to be stopped,” says Paige in a threatening tone. “Because I won’t stand for it.”
“Anyone would think he’s your husband,” says Rachel, laughing snottily.
“I’m only thinking about you,” says Paige, rubbing her hands up and down Rachel’s arms. “Do you want your husband back or not?”
Rachel wasn’t aware that he’d gone anywhere … yet.
“So, are you going to put your big-girl pants on and go out there, or am I calling a taxi?”
Rachel stands up, shakes herself down and peers into the badly lit mirror. She rubs at the streaks of mascara that are smeared under her eyes and pinches her skin to get a rush of color to her cheeks.
“Here,” says Paige, handing her a lipstick from her bag.
Rachel takes it, twisting the silver casing in her hand, trying not to cry again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she says, hugging Paige to her.
“I’m sure you’d manage.” Paige laughs.
“No. I don’t think I would.”
“Well, good thing you don’t have to, then.”
As the two women walk out of the bathroom Ali momentarily stops what she’s saying. Rachel’s not remotely surprised that, as uncustomary as it is for the bride to give a speech, Ali has taken it upon herself to give one. Another chance to be in the spotlight, just in case she’s not been in it enough already.
Jack looks at Rachel like a six-year-old boy whose mum’s come late to the nativity play, but once she’s sitting beside him, he softens and rubs her back.
“Are you all right?” he whispers.
Rachel nods, the bitter taste in her mouth rendering her speechless.
“So, all that’s left to say,” Ali goes on, picking up a champagne glass, “is that William Hunter, I love you and I can’t thank you enough for choosing me to be your wife.”
As the diners stand to toast the couple, Ali throws a hand in the air. “Oh my goodness, I almost forgot … Jack, where are you?”
Rachel stiffens as Jack squirms beside her.
“Ah, there you are,” says Ali, as if she’d not known where he’d been sitting for the past three hours. “Jack, ladies and gentlemen, is the person I should really be thanking.”
Rachel falls back down into her chair, feeling like the air’s been sucked out of her.
“Yes, please sit,” says Ali, motioning with her free hand.
“It would be remiss of me not to mention Jack, because if it weren’t for him, none of us would be here right now. I was working for Jack when he introduced me to his brother Will, and I will be forever in his debt. Though, that’s not to say I’d ever work for him again.”
The audience titters nervously while Jack stays focused on the bitter cup of coffee in front of him.
“I certainly hope he’s a better husband than he is a boss, Rachel,” Ali goes on, before dissolving into a schoolgirl giggle.
Rachel’s ears go hot as she feels forty pairs of eyes turning to look at her, their laughter easier now that they’ve worked out who the butt of the joke is supposed to be. She grips at the tablecloth, desperately trying to find the strength to stand up, to put a stop to this and tell everyone that Ali already knows he’s not a better husband. How can he be, when he’s having sex with her?